Applications accessible via networks such as the World Wide Web (WWW) typically incorporate internal search indices to allow users to find content when performing searches, for example, on topical subjects or keywords. Content from the applications are often incorporated by outside search engines, thus enabling potential users that do not know about the application to find and utilize the application.
The use of Internet search engines has become both a boon and a hindrance to Internet users. Many topics can be researched via these search engines, but they have limitations. These limitations are becoming increasingly apparent as Internet content becomes more dynamic. By example, search engines normally discover content by following links and generating indices from the textual content contained within the content. This technique does not work properly with certain controlled applications such as, for example, an Information Marketplace due to the interface people use to discover subject matter or intellectual property (IP).
Since modem web applications often hinder the ability for search engines to discover content because of their level of dynamic information, new content is often undiscovered in a timely fashion when a user searches. For example, information that is frequently changing or undergoing frequent updates may be prone to fewer hits by search engines. Further, content that is protected or restricted in certain fashions by the content owners may be unreachable or unpresentable to users in a proper context as intended by the content's owner. Thus, both search engines and users may each have undesirable limitations that may adversely influence discovery or proper use of the content.
Therefore, there is a need to present IP or other content within a web site such as an Information Marketplace in a manner such that search engines can effectively and reliably index the internal search indices. At the same time, users who enter the marketplace through a search engine should be presented with the same interface that a user entering the marketplace normally would see, which currently does not occur.